Postage stamps must have seemed heaven-sent to the would-be restorer of Confederate money - they came with their own glue! But there was a problem. Stamps were meant to move the mails and therefore had a small but definite value as useful objects.

The Confederacy got around part of the problem during the first summer of the war. Prior to that time, "provisional" postal issues had been produced by a range of cities and towns. But now the government at Richmond was able to issue official Confederate stamps. That put the provisionals out of business, and it also meant that Yankee postage stamps (which had sometimes continued in use in the absence of anything else) could be declared null and void for postage.

They still came in handy for reinforcing money. That's what the blue Federal stamp is doing on the back of this note. The green one is a Confederate issue. One can conjecture that it was either damaged and rendered unfit for postage or had become virtually worthless as inflation worsened later in the war.

But glue was glue. The old stamp got a new use, and the bill it strengthened a new lease on life. Someone added a straight pin, taking no chances. The gentleman at lower right is R. M. T. Hunter, sometime senator and secretary of state. The note was called in and canceled later in the war, which explains the hole.

Related Events

1848: U.S. Mexican war ends and western territory is acquired from Mexico.

1861: The Confederate States of America issues paper money-more than $30 million by the end of 1861.

1863: Southern defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg mark the turning point of the Civil War.

1865: The Civil War ends when Confederate armies surrender and Confederate government collapses.

1868: Ulysses S. Grant elected U.S. President.

1877: Reconstruction period ends when Federal Troops are removed from Southern states.

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